The story continued
by raspberry06
Summary: The trio and Ginny after the second wizarding war, and George coping with Fred's death. Contains ideas from the books, films and my own ideas, so may not be exactly what JK Rowling said happened after the battle. It starts at the end of the deathly hallows part 2 film, before the 'nineteen years later' part, and carries on from there. Hope you enjoy! X
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: All recognizable characters, settings, lines and references to_ _elements within the Harry Potter universe belong to JK Rowling and affiliated publishers. In addition, any aspects borrowed from the film canon are property of Warner Bros. This fanfiction exists purely for non-commercial entertainment, and the author is not benefited from any form of profit. Rated T for language, some violence and implied sexuality._

Chapter one

They stood, hands interlocked, the ruined castle behind them. It was over. Harry felt numb, which, he decided, was preferable to the pain he knew would come. But as he thought this, their names tumbled into his mind, and not just the ones from the battle, but ones that he had been dealing with the grief for a long time: his mother and father, Sirius, Dumbledore, Cedric, Snape, Remus, Tonks, Mad-eye Moody, Fred. He let go of Hermione's hand and fell to the floor, crouched like a tiger, as the pain washed over him, and threatened to engulf him in its fiery waves. His breathing became short and unsteady. It was as if he had all the worst emotions he had ever felt in his life; guilt, sadness, anger and grief, all rolled in a big ball that lodged itself in his stomach stubbornly.

"Harry?" Hermione said, her voice anxious, and she ducked to crouch next to him, Ron's hand on her back. "Harry?" Tears streamed down her cheeks, making clear tracks in the dirt that covered her face. Harry had to remind himself to breathe. He would have to face the terror sometime, and it would be easier to do it steadily. He breathed deeply and stood up again. He looked at Ron, who wore a pained expression, and Harry knew that he was holding in the grief too. There was a deadly pause, in which Hermione tried to stem the flow of tears by wiping her eyes with her sleeve, and Ron and Harry both gulping back the tears themselves. Finally, the silence was broken by Hermione's voice.

"We should go inside, see the others."

Ron took a sharp intake of breath. Harry understood; Ron had just lost a member of his family, and Harry himself felt devastated at the thought that he would never hear Fred's voice again.

Harry took another breath, and nodded. But as he turned round, he saw a blur of ginger running towards him. Before he could register this, the breath was knocked out of him as Ginny jumped on him, wrapping her legs around him and using her hands to hit him repeatedly in the chest.

"Don't-you-EVER-do-that-again-Harry-Potter!" she gasped, between punches. Then she threw her arms around his neck and buried her face in his shoulder, sobbing bitterly. Harry looked sideways at Ron and Hermione, who averted their eyes. Harry hugged Ginny close. When she finally unravelled herself and was on her own two feet again, she kept a firm hold of Harry's hand, as if she thought that he might blow away with the wind if she let go. The four began walking slowly towards Hogwarts, all dreading going back to the horror that lay within. As soon as they entered the Great Hall, Mrs Weasley's voice penetrated Harry's tumbled thoughts.

"Harry. Thank goodness you're all right." She hugged him briefly, but her usual brightness had disintegrated, and the colour was gone from her eyes, replaced with a dull gleam. She squeezed Ginny's arm, placed a hand on Ron's shoulder and nodded at Hermione. "We'll go back to the burrow." she said shortly. Harry glanced at her, surprised. The last time he had seen the burrow it had been up in flames, due to the death eaters Bellatrix Lestrange and Fenrir Greyback. He felt a surge of anger with the memory, but as soon as it had come, it had gone, and the guilt and grief was back. Molly seemed to read his thoughts.

"The burrow's been fully rebuilt now. Exactly as it was before, give or take a few things that we'll never be able to replace." she gulped, and pain flashed over her face. She was thinking about Fred. Harry nodded, then smiled as he caught a glimpse of Neville and Luna, sitting very close together a couple of metres away. He always did think that they'd be great together. Mrs Weasley's steps faltered as they neared the place where the rest of her family was gathered, as if she didn't want to go back there, just yet. Ginny gripped Harry's hand so tightly that her fingernails dug into his palm.

"The protective spells around the castle have been broken." she murmured, and the five of them disapparated, appearing seconds later half a mile from the burrow. They walked there in silence. As Harry entered the house, he realised that Mrs Weasley had been wrong. Though the house looked the same way, (so much so that no one would ever realise there had been a fire at all) the cheerful atmosphere had vanished. Instead, there was a maudlin air about the place, as if the dementors had just performed their deadly kiss on the burrow and sucked out its soul, replacing it with gloom. Mrs Weasley walked into the living room with purpose, so that the others followed, and sat down all squished together on the sofa. Mrs Weasley sat heavily down in front of them on the armchair, and took a deep breath.

"Now, Harry." He knew what was coming. "You mustn't feel guilty for anything. The only death that was because of you was the fall of V-Voldemort." she stuttered. "And now, we can all breathe freely again. We, together, have ended the war that has been going on for 14 years, Harry. Everyone who... who d-died-" she swallowed, "died fighting him. It wasn't because of _you_ , Harry. It was because of Voldemort. And like Neville said, they're still with us, every single one of them. They didn't die because of you. But we need to live for them now." she couldn't carry on. They were all choked, and no one spoke. Then the heard the front door open, and Arthur, Percy, Bill, Fleur and Charlie came in. Harry saw George walk round to the back garden. Mrs Weasley looked up at her husband, who leaned on her chair. Arthur sighed, as if he was carrying a great weight.

"Fred's in the garden." he muttered, and everyone looked down. Mrs Weasley nodded, pressing her lips together.

"We should...we should do it now, as we are. It seems...right." she said, a tear trickling down her cheek. So they all went into the garden, and everyone helped to dig a hole. George took over in silence when everyone had taken a turn. It had been Harry's suggestion; like with Dobby, he had thought that it would be better, more personal, to do it without magic. However, when Arthur, Percy, Charlie and Ron had lowered Fred down (George was knelt next to the hole, staring into it blankly) they all held their wands into the air, and after a few minutes of silence, shot up colourful sparks that lit up the sky. They stayed there for hours, and while George steadily filled the grave, they stood and rested against one another. Harry held Ginny tightly. He had never seen Ron like this: he wept bitterly, supported by Hermione. Mr and Mrs Weasley were sat on the ground in a huddle; Bill and Fleur were crouched next to the grave; Percy and Charlie were stood close together, their backs hunched. Harry could hear Percy-he sounded like a broken man, and nothing like the stuck up boy he once was. Harry let the grief take over, that night in the garden, and cried with the others. It was late morning when they finally went in. No one really knew what to do with themselves, so they all crashed in the living room: Mrs Weasley on the sofa, George curled up on the armchair and everyone else crammed together on the floor. Harry fell asleep with his hand still clutched in Ginny's.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter two

The next few weeks went extremely slowly for Harry. He stayed close to Ron, Hermione and Ginny; the four of them walking aimlessly around the house in a huddle, or sat in a circle, unspeaking. They seemed to have some sort of unspoken agreement that they would stick together like glue, for each was terrified of losing the others, after coming so close before. One morning, three weeks after the battle, Harry and Ron came down to breakfast to find Hermione and Ginny at the table. (they had taken up their old sleeping arrangements, for it made them feel slightly more comfortable) Hermione looked up from the daily prophet she was reading as they sat down. Harry automatically grimaced. He had been avoiding the newspapers; he didn't want to read the rumours, hear what people were saying. He didn't need to relive the battle. Hermione pushed the paper towards them and jabbed at an advert. Harry hesitated, then read it out reluctantly.

 _GOING TO MISS HOGWARTS NEXT YEAR?_

 _You don't have to!_

Harry and Ron simultaneously glanced up at Hermione, raising their eyebrows. She nodded encouragingly, and poked the paper again. Harry read on:

 _A new scheme has been set up by six professors of Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. While the castle is being rebuilt, after the ferocious battle that ended with the fall of you-know-who, they will be offering weekday lessons all year that will end in exams, just like the schoolyear. Anyone under nineteen can join, whether they just missed a year of Hogwarts/want to redo their previous year, or want to complete their next year rather than wait for Hogwarts to be rebuilt. Minerva McGonagall, one of the leaders of the school, said "this is advisable for O.W.L and N.E.W.T students." Another, named Horace Slughorn, informed us that the school will be taking place in two new buildings on Diagon Alley, which will be used temporarily for the school until Hogwarts is able to open once more. Rubeus Hagrid, safe half-giant and gamekeeper/care of magical creatures teacher at Hogwarts, told us tearfully, "we're aimin' to open 'Ogwarts for nex' year. I miss it already!" He will be another teacher at the school. The Divination teacher, Sybill Trelawney, and the Herbology teacher, Pomona Sprout, will also be teaching. The final leader, Filius Flitwick, who taught Charms at Hogwarts adds that he "hopes that it will be successful". To enrol, send a letter with your name, the year you want to complete, and 5 galleons for funding, to Minerva McGonagall. Further details will be sent to every person attending the school on August 1_ _st_ _.There are limited spaces available. The closing date for sending the letters is July 22_ _nd_ _._

Harry folded up the newspaper and glanced at Hermione. She was beaming like she'd just won 1000 galleons.

"Oh, come _on_!" she said, in reply to the doubtful looks Harry and Ron gave her. "We NEED those N.E.W.T's! We can train for them this year, and then when Hogwarts is up and running again, we can take our N.E.W.T's and become aurors-"

"Oh, all right." Harry and Ron said at the same time. They knew Hermione too well-once she had her heart set on something, she wasn't going to drop it. Besides, they both did want to be aurors.

"Ginny? You'll be attending, won't you?"

"I guess. It would feel too strange, a year without Hogwarts. I'll send an owl to Luna and Neville, ask if they're going too." She finished her cereal, stood up and put her bowl in the sink, took her wand out and set it to wash itself.

"Well, I'm going to send my owl straight away." Hermione said, getting up and fetching some parchment and a quill. "If you three want to add your letters, feel free." she didn't look at them as she scribbled away. Harry, Ginny and Ron took parchment too, and wrote their names and their coming year down, Harry had a bag full of galleons upstairs; he counted five and put them in the envelope with his letter. He placed it next to Hermione's, who had gone upstairs to find five galleons and Pigwidgeon. The ball of emotions in Harry's stomach warmed slightly as he realised that he would be going back to Hogwarts with his best friends. Harry found Ron and Ginny in the hallway, their hands held out, muttering to each other. They closed their fists quickly when they saw Harry, and he pretended that he hadn't seen that they only had seven galleons between them. He went past the, upstairs and grabbed some coins. He placed them in their hands.

"It's only three galleons." he murmured, when they opened their mouths to argue. They all sent their letters with Pigwidgeon, who was extremely excited to have so many letters to deliver, and puffed up his chest with importance. After they had sent the letters, they went upstairs to brush their teeth. Hermione, Ron and Harry were waiting outside the bathroom, as Ginny was in there, and their talking came to a standstill as they heard voices coming from the door to their left. Etched onto the middle of the door, Harry read: "Fred and George. The Best Weasley's" Harry tried not to listen, but it was useless; he couldn't help but hear what was going on.

"George, darling, please, you haven't eaten in weeks-" Mrs Weasley was pleading tearfully.

"No." George's voice was hoarse, as if he didn't want to use it.

"Darling," There was a creak as Mrs Weasley sat down on the bed. "I know how you f-"

"No, you don't, you really don't." George replied, his voice rising.

"George-"

"Imagine if someone took away half of you. You feel like you'll never be able to live again. Then multiply that feeling by a million and you might come close to how I feel." George was choked. Harry, Ron and Hermione knew that this was the most George had spoken since the battle. They heard Mrs Weasley gasp, and then she came out of the room. They pressed themselves against the wall, and fortunately Mrs Weasley closed the door and walked away with her back to them. Hermione looked stricken, and took Ron's hand. Ginny came out of the bathroom.

"What's up?" she said, seeing their fallen faces. Harry decided in a split second not to tell her.

"Nothing. Ron, you go next." for Ron had suddenly taken on an expression that made Harry sure he was holding back tears. He pushed him forward, and as he went in, Hermione began talking rapidly to Ginny about school, and Ginny didn't seem to hear the stifled sobs that came from inside the bathroom.

At the beginning of June, Harry, Ron and Hermione decided to go travelling, but this time, they wouldn't be searching for Horcruxes, and they would take Ginny with them. They couldn't stay in the burrow much longer, even though normally it was one of Harry's favourite places in the world-otherwise they would all go mad; wafting around the house for days on end was becoming tiresome, and they all needed a bit of a distraction. Mrs Weasley didn't seem keen, but Mr Weasley eventually persuaded her that it was exactly what they needed. It took them a couple of days to pack everything they needed, and to make a plan of where they would go. Finally, in the early morning of the 6th of June, they set off. They walked several miles, to the top of Stoatshead hill, which they all remembered fondly from their walk to the portkey to get to the Quidditch world cup. It all seemed so long ago, as they laughed and joked about the happy memories. They left out the death eaters, though. When they got to the top, they sat and ate a picnic breakfast, and then apparated to their first destination: the seaside. As they were already in Devon, it seemed appropriate. They walked a while until they were on the seafront. Harry took off his shoes and socks and stood with the waves just reaching his ankles. Ginny linked her arm in his, her sandals dangling from her hand. It was so peaceful, watching the waves crash onto the golden sand, and no one was here yet. Hermione shrieked as she dipped her toes into the water; it was extremely cold. But Harry, who had, not so long ago, dived into icy water to retrieve the sword of Godric Gryffindor, found that the sea was quite pleasant. Harry felt himself begin to relax, and the ball of emotions in his stomach started to unclench. They were still there, but weaker than before. Somehow he thought that they might never totally disappear, but for now, that was ok. This had been the purpose of their holiday; so that they could all wind down a bit, and finally be able to enjoy themselves after the horrors of the year. Now, they finally had a chance to do that.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter three

"Ronald!" Hermione gasped, shaking her wet hair. Ron laughed. He had taken off his t-shirt, and waded into the sea. After trying to coax Hermione gently into the water, which didn't work, he stomped hard into the next big wave-thus splashing her with so much water that she was covered from head to toe and sopping wet.

"I'm going to get you for that, Ron!" she exclaimed, pulling off her vest and shorts (she was wearing a bikini) and diving in head first. Ron stared at the place where Hermione had been stood. She disappeared underwater. Ron started pushing his hands through the water when she didn't come up.

"Hermione? Hermione!" he shouted worriedly. Then he fell backwards with a crash, as if someone had pulled on his legs. Moments later, he appeared again, gasping for breath with Hermione at his side, giggling.

"You!" he pounced on her as she attempted to swim away, but he managed to grab her round the waist and pulled her to him, Hermione squealing in protest, Ron laughing. Ginny grinned at Harry. She unbuttoned her check shirt and pulled off her skirt (she also was wearing a bikini) and threw them on the sand, and Harry ripped off his shirt too-luckily he was wearing shorts. They swam to meet Ron and Hermione. Harry couldn't shake away the image of Ginny in her bikini. From the wondering look on Ron's face, he knew that he was going through the same thing. They played in the water, feeling like kids again. It gradually warmed up as the sun began to poke through the clouds, and when they got used to the temperature. Once or twice, Harry looked at Ginny while she was laughing or smiling and couldn't help thinking how beautiful she was. He was staring at her again when she caught him out.

"What?" Ginny laughed. Harry just grabbed her hand and pulled her towards him, spinning her as if they were dancing. They then pretended to dance through the water, and Ron and Hermione joined in. Harry and Ginny finally came to a standstill, stumbling over their feet in the water. Ron and Hermione were dancing a little further on down the beach. Harry's hand was still on Ginny's waist; he pulled her closer to him, until their wet bodies were pressed against each other, their noses touching.

"You know, Parvati was right." Ginny whispered, lowering her eyelids. "You really are an awful dancer, Harry Potter." He smiled as he closed his eyes, tilted his head to one side and brushed his lips against her own. Suddenly her lips were back, and this time, the kiss was more intense, adult and passionate than they had ever shared before. Ginny's hands ran through his hair, and Harry kept one hand on her waist and one on her lower back. He could smell the flowery scent of her hair; it washed over him like a wave. When they pulled apart, breathless, it was only because Harry could sense someone there. He looked down to see a little girl of about four, struggling to keep her balance against the tide and holding on to the hem of his shorts. Harry and Ginny were stood up to their thighs in water, so the waves were washing up to the little girl's shoulders. It was lucky that the sea was calmer today, otherwise the waves would have been flowing over her head. Harry suspected her to be a muggle; Devon didn't have many magical folk. She tugged on his shorts again impatiently, and then almost fell over. Harry reached his hand out and put it on her tiny shoulder to steady her, and she looked up at him, grinning.

"Hello?" Harry half-asked, grinning back. She was so cute.

"I can't find Mammy." she said in a Welsh accent, her eyes brimming with tears suddenly, and her bottom lip trembling.

"Oh, um-" Harry wasn't sure what to do. He looked around and realised that all of a sudden the beach had filled up. Ginny bent down so that she was almost head level with the girl.

"What's your name, sweetie? My name is Ginny, and this is Harry." Ginny had such a kind tone that the little girl seemed to relax, as though she knew that they were safe.

"Cassie." she whispered.

"Okay, Cassie, where did you last see Mammy?" Ginny smiled. The little girl looked like she was thinking.

"Th-the toilets." Cassie looked terrified.

"Okay, tell you what, Cassie, me and Harry will help you find your Mammy. Where are the toilets?" Cassie turned and pointed a little way up the beach, where they could see a shack.

"Give us one second, Cassie, we need to put our t-shirts back on!" Cassie giggled and nodded her head, her short ginger curls bouncing back and forth and then stuck her thumb in her mouth. Harry and Ginny quickly tugged their shirts back on, and then they walked to the toilets. Cassie walked in between Harry and Ginny, holding one hand of each of them. Ginny and Harry began to swing her between them, and she laughed.

"Cassie, when you see Mammy, point at her, okay?" Harry said. Cassie nodded. As they neared the shack, they could hear panicked shouts from inside.

"Cassie, are you in here? Cassie, please, where are you? Are you hear, Cassie? Cassandra Blue, come here now!" It was a lady's voice, and she sounded worried. Cassie cocked her head.

"That's Mammy." she whispered. "She's angwy at me." Just as the three of them reached the shacks, a young lady of around twenty came out of the girls toilets. She was wearing a bright summer dress, and her ginger hair was pulled back into a ponytail, a yellow handbag swinging from her shoulder. She looked around wildly, her eyes finally coming to rest on Harry and Ginny. The lady gasped, putting her hands to her mouth, a tear falling from her eye, and she jumped from the stairs and ran towards them. Cassie pointed at the lady, jumping up and down.

"That's my Mammy!" Harry and Ginny smiled at each other, and let go of Cassie as her mother reached them. She picked up Cassie and swung her high into the air. Cassie laughed.

"Mammy, I lost you!"

"I know, you naughty girl! Oh, I love you so much, Cassie." Harry put his arm around Ginny. He felt ridiculously happy that they'd helped this girl find her Mum. Just then the woman looked at them, and they grinned.

"Mammy, this is Hawwy and Ginneeee." the girl said, throwing her arms in the air and kicking her legs. "They helped me, Mammy! They are _nice fwends_!" The woman smiled at them, crying happily.

"Thank you so, so, so much for helping her to find me, and looking after her, I'll forever be grateful to you two darlings."

"It was our pleasure. Goodbye, Cassie!"


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter four

They both waved as Cassie's mother carried Cassie in the opposite direction. They were almost back at the ocean front, where, by the looks of things, Ron and Hermione hadn't noticed at all that they had been gone, when Harry felt a tap on his shoulder. He spun round, as did Ginny. Cassie's mother was stood there, holding Cassie's hand. In one hand she held an ice cream, and Cassie was holding one too.

"It's the least I can do." she said, smiling, as they handed them to a surprised Harry and Ginny. "Cassie didn't lick it once, which is a first for her. She must really like you!" Ginny laughed as she took the cone from Cassie.

"Thank y-"

"Oh, no. Thank _you_." Cassie's mother nodded, and they walked away again. As Harry and Ginny turned around, they noticed Ron and Hermione looking in their direction.

"So now they're interested, when we have food." Ginny muttered to Harry, who laughed, and licked his ice cream. They saw Ron and Hermione shrug, and turn back to each other. As they got closer, Harry heard Ron say,

"How come every time we kiss we're both soaking wet?" Hermione giggled and leant in towards Ron. Harry looked at Ginny, who laughed awkwardly.

"How come they had seven years together, without touching each other at all, and then suddenly they can't keep their hands off each other?" Ginny crunched up the last of her cone, and wiped her hands on her shorts.

"Eww, I'm soaked!" Harry laughed, and pulled Ginny into a bone crushing hug. "Uh, Harry...I can't _breathe_!"

"Oh, sorry."

"And what was that for?"

"Just 'cause I can." Harry grinned mischievously and took her hand. "Why don't we go and find a place for the tent?"

"Okay." They picked up Hermione's bag, which she had left on the beach with her clothes, and walked back up the sand until they reached solid land again. They hadn't exactly decided where they were going to camp in each place, but after searching for a bit, they found a dilapidated field only five minutes walk from the beach. Ginny ran to tell Hermione and Ron, and Harry set it up: though it was really rather easy: all he had to do was a quick scan for any muggles, take out his wand and summon the tent from the bag, then say _Erecto_ and the tent was up. Harry had changed, and was just using the hot-air charm on his shorts and t-shirt when Ginny arrived.

"Hey, can you do that to mine, too?" Ginny said, and stripped off her clothes again, handing them to Harry. She waltzed into the tent in her bikini, and zipped up the door. "No peeking, I'm getting changed." she giggled from inside the tent as Harry began to dry her clothes too. He was almost disappointed when she came out of the tent fully clothed again minutes later. It was around lunchtime when Hermione and Ron came back; Ginny and Harry had been playing exploding snap for just over half an hour.

"Really you two? Exploding snap? I thought we were adults now." Hermione said, her eyebrows arched. Her and Ron were holding hands, and Ginny looked pointedly at them and said, "Well you two are certainly acting _adult_ , but maybe we're allowed to have some fun. Anyways, you're never too old for exploding snap. George and Fred-" Ginny broke off, her face twisting in pain. Harry looked at Ron-his face held the same grimace. Hermione turned to Harry.

"Hey, how did you dry your clothes so quick?" she said in a strained voice.

"Come on, Hermione, you know everything! What do you think?" Harry said lightly. He knew that Hermione was trying to create a diversion, so he played along.

"Um, I don't know...perhaps _Incendio_? Oh no, wait, it can't be-otherwise your clothes would be burned..." Hermione pretended to think, tapping her chin with one finger. " _Impervius_? No, no, that repels water, but your clothes were already wet..."

"Okay, okay, Hermione, it was the hot-air charm, and you _know_ it. The only thing you're doing now is showing that you know every spell in the universe-"

"No, I don't! Okay then, test me!" Hermione challenged, crossing her arms and tapping one foot, waiting. The tension in the air had eased, Harry could see from the expression on Ginny's face that she was thinking hard.

"All right then...uh...ooh, I've got one: what does _Aparecium_ do?" Harry felt sure she wouldn't know this one-

"It reveals invisible ink." Hermione answered immediately. Harry groaned. " _Aparecium_ is extremely useful when-"

"Yeah, okay Hermione." Ron said. Hermione stuck her tongue out at him.

"Ah, no! That was literally the only one I thought you might not know." Harry thought for a moment, then one came to him. "Hey, I don't think I ever told you about this one, I used it so many times though: _Dissendium_." He waited proudly, and for a minute thought that she didn't know it, but then-

"Oh, I know! How silly of me. It's the one that opens up the statue of that one-eyed witch, isn't it?" Harry stared at her wordlessly.

"But...how did you-"

"I overheard you talking to Ron, Harry, in third year?"

"I don't even remember that!"

"You don't remember anything, Ronald." Hermione sighed.

"Well, I think you've proved it, Hermione-"

"Wait, I have one!" Ginny burst out, her eyes shining. " _Waddiwasi_." Harry, Hermione, and Ron stared at her.

"Um..." Hermione started, obviously struggling. "Uh, I don't think I...I remember hearing it once..." she thought hard. Now Ron and Harry were staring at her. Ginny looked triumphant. After a few moments Hermione shook her head.

"I don't know." she said.

"It is used to launch small objects through the air. I once used it to launch a spit ball back at Griselda Whisp, a Slytherin in my year."

"You are _such_ a bad ass, Ginny Weasley." Harry said in admiration. Ginny snorted.

Hermione grinned. "See, I don't know _everything_ , like I told you! I don't know half of the spells there are!" Everyone rolled their eyes. At least the game had changed the mood; Ron had his arm around Hermione; Hermione was talking about the trip with Ginny, and Ginny was holding Harry's hand.

"Hey, Hermione-" Ron started, then broke off, wondering.

"What?"

"Well, I was just thinking, out of habit, I suppose, that we ought to put protective spells up. But I guess we're not on the run anymore, are we?" He gave a forced laugh.

"Oh, no, Ron, that's a fair point. We should, just for extra safety. Uh, Harry, help me, would you?" Harry nodded and they began the process, while Ron and Ginny went inside to play Exploding Snap. They had done the whole lot (Protego Totalum, Salvio Hexia, Repello Muggletum, the Muffliato Charm, Cave Inimicum, and the Disillusionment Charm) before they realised that they probably didn't need them all. However, they had just gone into the tent when they heard voices. Harry climbed out again, taking care to make no noise. He had whispered to the others that it was probably just muggles, but he wanted to make sure. The truth was, he didn't actually think that himself. He wanted to think so, but after years of having to be on alert, he had ended up rather suspicious at best, paranoid at worst. Harry tried to stay calm as he looked around. He could see two people opening the gate to come into the field: two men. He knew at once that they were wizards. They were obviously trying to pretend to be muggles; one was wearing a waistcoat, culottes and clogs, the other was wearing a shirt with ruffles, like you might see a pirate wear in a play, denim shorts, knee high socks and trainers. Harry listened intently as their words became clear.

"Oh, yes, Cuthbert, I completely agree." the one wearing culottes was saying. "I think that it is essential we find the boy. Macnair told me-" Harry froze. His heart skipped a beat, and then he recognised the name in a rush. The executioner who had come to kill Buckbeak, in his third year. He had been there at Voldemort's rebirth in Harry's fourth year. The words came back to Harry, as if it had been only yesterday: "Macnair… destroying dangerous beasts for the Ministry of Magic...You shall have better victims than that soon, Macnair. Lord Voldemort will provide…" Harry shuddered as his blood turned cold. Only seconds had passed. Harry hadn't missed a word as he was remembering. "-that he will release Arabella and Mary. We'll have our wives back, Cuthbert-"

"Really? But, Terry, I don't want to get into this...he's a-a-a very d-dark wizard. A death eater, Terry!" Cuthbert sounded terrified. They were walking past the tent. They had stopped talking for a minute, then-

"But I miss Arabella. So, so much-" Cuthbert broke off, and Harry could hear the emotion in his voice. Terry placed a hand on his shoulder.

"And I miss my Mary. I think that it might be the only way we can get them back, if we capture the boy." Terry said.

"Why does he even want him, anyway? You-know-who is gone!"

"I don't know. All I know is that we must get him. We have to find Harry Potter."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter five

"What?!" Hermione shrieked. "Oh...oh my gosh..." She slumped weakly against Ron, who rubbed her arms comfortingly, but his eyes were troubled. "Bloody hell" Ron murmured, again and again. For once Hermione didn't comment on his language.

Harry wasn't sure what to think. Above all, he was worried-so, so worried-for Hermione, Ron and Ginny. He didn't want to put them in danger, not for him; they were worth so much more than that. Ginny was sat close to him. She hadn't said anything yet. Harry put his arm around her, and squeezed her tightly. Hermione got up, and started to pick things up, and put them down again, restlessly shifting objects around.  
"Right, well, so...we should...we should probably pack up and move on...or would it be better if-no, we should move soon..." Suddenly Ginny stood up. Her face was pure rage, and she was crying.

"It's not fair!" she burst out, ripping her hands through her hair. "We finally get to escape, we think it's all over-but it's not! And I'm beginning to wonder whether it will _ever_ be over-" her breaths came in ragged gasps, "When will we ever be able to go somewhere and not be in threat? It wasn't Harry's choice! None of this was! And just because of some stupid prophecy, he has to have-" she broke off, trying to get the right word, " _evil_...chasing him everywhere he goes! I hate this! I hate them!" Ginny broke off, looking shocked at herself. Tears were still rolling down her cheeks, which burned like lava. Harry silently pulled her back down to sit in front of him. She leaned her back against him and he folded his arms protectively around her. He was speechless; he didn't know what to think, all he knew was that a fierce protectiveness was coming over him.

"Right." he said. They all looked at him. "Hermione's right, we should keep moving. We can't go back to the burrow until this is sorted. We know how to keep ourselves safe-" Harry looked at Ron and Hermione, who nodded. Harry could see the same protectiveness in their eyes as well, and he knew that they all cared about each other so much that they would protect any of the others with their lives. He looked finally at Ginny, who pressed her lips together and nodded bravely. "We need to have a plan, so that if anything happened-"

"I know," Hermione said, who had begun to pack everything into the three bags that they had placed undetectable extension charms on. "We'll do the same as before. If any of us are in danger, or need to leave at any point, all come and hold onto me and I'll apparate us somewhere. Ok?" They nodded. Hermione had taken on a firm tone, and Harry was utterly grateful to her for taking charge of the situation. They all helped to pack, and within half an hour had apparated to their next destination.

"Uh, where exactly are we, Hermione?" Ron asked. They were in a valley, concealed amongst trees, with mountains rising up all around them. It was the strange peaceful silence, like when everything is muffled on a snowy morning, that made Harry sure that Hermione had done it again-come up with the perfect hiding place, for now.

"South of France." she replied, glancing at Ron. "Me and my parents went on holiday near here. We hiked miles from the log cabin we were staying in; no one ever comes this way, because its too dangerous on the mountains. We're safe here, for now." Harry and Hermione quickly put up the protective spells. It was almost half past two, and everyone was starving. Hermione produced rolls from one bag, and they all ate as much as they could. When they had finished, they sat for a while outside the tent, huddled together on the ground, enjoying the views. For now, this was all they could think to do.

* * *

George sat on his bed, his mind frozen. It had been his way of not totally exploding with the grief-to try and not think of anything at all. But every few hours, after he had been alone, as he always was, his cover began to crack, and it would all come rushing back like icy water. He would curl on the bed, body shaking uncontrollably with the racking sobs. He would have to stuff his hand into his mouth to muffle the screams that emanated from his mouth, but sometimes it still came out, and the blood-curdling sounds would still the house until it was over. These periods of pain lasted up to two hours, and when George was finally able to regain his frozen facade he would sit up on his bed again, straight backed, unblinking. Sometimes he would hear screams in the night from the others too, and sometimes sobs. George didn't actually think anything at all, the only real 'thoughts' that went through his brain over and again were two images, one of Fred just after the curse had hit him, and the other of Fred's body before he was covered with earth. These were the images that haunted George's nightmares.

* * *

Harry awoke the next morning to daylight falling through the canvas walls of the tent, casting an odd glimmer that seemed to make everything look better. He yawned, put on his glasses and tumbled out of the bottom bunk, peeking over the edge of the top bunk to see if Ron was still asleep. In the other bunk bed, Hermione and Ginny were sleeping soundly too. Harry looked for a moment at Ginny, curled in a ball under the covers, her ginger hair splayed out on the pillow, tear marks streaked down her face from when Harry heard her crying quietly last night. She's too young for this, Harry thought miserably. He often forgot that she was only a year younger than him, often it seemed as though she was the same age, if not older. Yesterday, however, was the only time Harry and seen her truly look as young as she was. He shook the memory away. It was important that he focus on keeping the others safe. Rummaging in the bags Hermione had packed, not sure what he was looking for, he found a map. It was very peculiar, for it was a map of the world, but in such great detail that you could see streets, and forests, and mountains, and houses. Harry stared at it for a moment, before seeing a little red arrow that was pulsing over France. It was pointed towards the South, exactly where they were, and sure enough, when Harry peered closer, he noticed tiny writing on the arrow that said "Hermione, Ron, Ginny and Harry". It also showed a dotted line that went from the South of France back to Devon, where there was a little red dot. It was really rather clever. Harry thought that it was like a world version of the marauders map, that only showed them. He folded up the map, blown away yet again by Hermione's intelligence. He looked through the bags again and found another map. It was an exact copy of the other one, except that it had no moving arrows, dotted lines or red dots. It was more like a muggle map, just with the exception of the streets and details that Harry hadn't seen on a world map before. He used a quill and a pot of invisible ink, which he found in one of the bags, to draw lines to places he thought that they could go next. It took him a while, and he had to keep revealing the ink to check what he had done, but eventually the map was a criss-cross of lines leading all over the place. Satisfied, he put away the map, pleased that he had thought of using invisible ink, so that no one could see what Harry had planned if they found the map. Ginny appeared as Harry was straightening up from the bags on the floor, and he attempted a smile at her. She smiled weakly back, yawned and came over to Harry, who put his arms around her. She leaned back against him and, after a moment, turned around to look at him. She searched his face earnestly, then softly whispered, "You're scared. Even though you won't admit it."

"As long as you're safe, that's all that matters." Harry replied quietly. She was right, of course; she knew him too well. Ginny nodded hard, and then Harry saw something flicker in her eyes. Fear, along with a serious determination.

"I love you." she said fiercely. "So much." Harry brought her face up to his and kissed her. He found that Ginny had given him some hope; just her being there, and the others all around him. It made him remember that whatever happened, they were in it together, and that meant everything to him.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter six

"You have _got_ to be kidding."

"Harry, it would mean that we could-"

"Hermione, I am _not_ putting you guys in danger!"

"Harry-"

"No, Hermi-"

"HARRY! LISTEN TO ME!" Harry was so shocked at Hermione yelling that he shut up. "If we go and find Macnair and get rid of him, then we can end this before it even starts! We can come up with a good plan, and then we won't have to worry about him, none of us will be in danger, and we can put it all behind us." Harry was beginning to think that she was right. But there was no way that the others were getting involved.

"Ok, fine. It is a good idea." Harry admitted. "You can help me with the plan, but I'll go and find him on my-"

"Don't say it, mate." Ron said, with a furtive glance at Hermione, who rolled her eyes.

"Harry, you're unbelievable. I wouldn't have said it if we weren't all completely prepared to fight with you! I thought you'd learnt after the years of me telling you-WE'RE IN THIS TOGETHER, ok?" Harry nodded numbly. He had learnt long ago that there was no point in arguing with Hermione, it wouldn't get him anywhere. Hermione was pulling the maps out of the bag. "So, I've done these maps, I thought we could plan out-"

"I've already started, Hermione. Look, I used invisible ink." Harry revealed the ink, and Hermione's look of surprise was priceless.

"Oh-uh, good work, Harry. Yes, this is great, uh-"

"How did you do the map, Hermione?" Harry asked.

"Oh, it doesn't really matter, I-" Hermione stuttered, with a fearful glance at Ron and Ginny. "Oh, ok. Well, it was Fred and George's idea, based on the marauder's map, you know? Well, after Fred-I mean, I thought I would make it..." Hermione said hurriedly. Ron put his arms around her. Ginny blinked several times, then cleared her throat and said,

"We should start on a plan." Harry nodded, and they all sat down, spreading the maps and parchment out onto the table. But soon, they realised that without any information, there was little they could do. They spent the rest of the day and half the night discussing nothing.

* * *

George rolled over in bed. He was used to not sleeping-he hadn't slept for weeks-but it meant that he could hear his parents talking in the next room, and he wondered whether he would rather have the nightmares than hear their conversations. Tonight was just as bad.

"We can't just let him...w-waste away, Arthur-"

"I know, Molly, but I just don't know what's for the best."

"If only he had a friend, or even a girlfriend-" George didn't want to hear any more. He stuffed his pillow over his head and breathed deeply. He had never told anyone, apart from Fred, and hearing his mother talk about the subject, even if she didn't know it, was agonising. It felt like the least important thing right now. A memory flashed in George's head, he was suddenly able to sleep with the strength of this memory, and he had a few hours of calm rest before the screaming began once more.

* * *

"Ok, so I apparated to the village this morning-"

"You did WHAT? What if you'd been _seen_? What if someone-"

"Ron, I used a disguising charm, and the invisibility cloak for good measure." Hermione looked at Harry, apologetic. "I hope you don't mind?" she said sheepishly. Harry shrugged in response. Ron huffed.

"You shouldn't have gone in on your own. Don't do that again, ok? Wake me up, if you have to." Hermione nodded. "So tell me, Hermione, was there a reason that you decided to heavily disguise yourself and go on a suicide mission? Or do you just have a death wish?" Hermione gave Ron a dirty look and he grinned.

"Yes, actually, there is a reason. I thought I would see if I could find something that might have any information on Macnair. I found an English tourist shop. And I got this." She held up a _Daily Prophet_ proudly. Harry stared at it. He smoothed it out on the table with shaking hands. On the front cover, there was a picture of Harry, and the headline read: 'Our hero: where is he now?' Harry couldn't help himself-he read the article, but it was pretty boring; no one knew where he was, though a couple of people tried to guess-very unsuccessfully. He turned to the next page; this one was an extremely boring article about cauldrons, much like Percy's report on cauldron bottom thickness, so long ago. Harry briefly wondered why the _Daily Prophet_ was reporting on cauldrons when there were still death eaters around, but then he flipped over the page, and gasped. The headline read: 'MISSING' in large lettering. Underneath, Harry read:

 _Arabella and Mary, wives of Cuthbert Boot and Terry Fisher respectively, disappeared from Taunton on the 10th June. Cuthbert and Terry reported their disappearance instantly, and were questioned two days after. However, on the 12th June, they were insistent that they knew nothing. On the evening of the 13th, there was a sighting of what looked like two women and a man arriving at Exmoor National park, but Terry and Cuthbert were quick to let us know that their wives weren't there. It all seems very mysterious, and if we have no information leading us elsewhere over the next week, we will have to commission a search of Exmoor, no matter what Terry and Cuthbert tell us. More information coming soon._

Harry looked up from the paper confusedly. "But why would-" Hermione didn't let him finish.

"Don't you see?" Harry shook his head. Hermione sighed. "You told us that Terry and Cuthbert's wives are called Arabella and Mary, right?" Harry nodded. "Well, I think that on the 10th of June, when Cuthbert and Terry found out that their wives were missing, they reported it. But between then and when they were questioned, Macnair must have approached them, and told them that if they got you, Harry, then they would get their wives back. He probably also told them that they, or their wives, would pay if they told the interrogators that Macnair had them. Then after someone saw Arabella and Mary, Terry and Cuthbert probably tried to ensure that the Ministry didn't search Exmoor National park to give them more time to find you, Harry. So, we need to go to Exmoor, and that's where we'll find Macnair, and be able to free Arabella and Mary." Harry blinked at her several times, his mouth gaping. Next to him, Ron wore exactly the same look. Ginny, on the other hand, was nodding. She stood up from the table.

"Yes, Hermione, it all adds up. And even if that's not the case, we have to see, don't we? It will be quicker than following the map and visiting every place in the world to check if they're there. And maybe if they're not there, we might get a lead as to where they've moved to." Harry looked from Ginny to Hermione.

"Ok. We'll go. But-" he grinned. "Only if we can come back here once we've got rid of him. I like it in France."

By that afternoon, they had a full scale plan. They had consulted the map and plotted a path. They had decided to apparate to just outside Exmoor National park. They had packed everything but the tent into two of the bags, and the other held bottles of water, food and muggle money that Hermione and Ron had collected in the village. They had also managed to get four hairs, to put in the polyjuice potion that Hermione had brewed ages ago and saved four bottles of it for emergencies. They had bought some clothes for them to change into once they were disguised, and sorted out who was drinking which potion. Hermione had snapped a photo of each person that they were changing into so that the four of them knew who they were turning into. Everything was ready. Harry was itching to leave straight away, but Hermione insisted on a good night's sleep. Harry distinctly heard Ron mutter "you sound just like my mother" before he drifted off into a deep sleep.

The next morning, they awoke at five in the morning to Hermione humming tunelessly outside. Harry opened his eyes to find that the tent had fallen on him. He called to Hermione, and she helped him out of the fabric, chuckling, then went to help the others.

"Hermione, why did you collapse the tent on us?" Ron yawned, stretching his arms over his head, his hair ruffled.

"Because I thought it would be quicker. Anyway, have one of these, and then we'll get going." She handed round an energy bar each, and after they had eaten, Ron, Ginny and Harry got dressed and packed their pyjamas and the tent into a bag.

"Come on, you guys, I've been ready ages!" Hermione said, as they each picked up a bag, apart from Ginny.

"Tell me again, how come Ginny doesn't have to carry anything?" Ron grumbled, glancing at Ginny, who waved her hands in the air and danced around freely, smirking at Ron.

"Because she's the youngest. Also, she can keep an eye on Harry, make sure he doesn't run off." Harry's laugh faded and he scowled at Hermione. His smile was back soon after, though, when Ginny took his free hand in her own. He squeezed her hand.

"She only needs her eyes to watch him, not her arms." Ron murmured. Hermione ignored him.

"Ok, on the count of three, one, two-"

"Wait! Shouldn't we drink the-"

"No, Harry. Remember, we said that we'd take the potion when we get there, because we don't know how long it will last. We'll find toilets to get changed in. Anyway, one, two, three!"


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter seven

They found themselves in a deserted alleyway. It was so early that it was still dark, as they had gone from five in the morning in France to four in the morning in England. Hermione took clothes from her bag and gave them to each person.

"We might as well get changed here, there's no one around."

They changed, their backs to each other. They then drank the potion. Ginny went green as she swallowed the last of it; she had never taken it before. Suddenly, Harry was growing-he became a foot taller, and could feel long hair on his shoulders. Ron, on the other hand, became smaller and squatter with a bald head. Ginny was blonde and slightly plump, and Hermione was stick thin with a short brown bob.

"Right, so we should have names that we'll remember. Our parent's names? Yes, so Harry, you be James, and Ron, you're Arthur. I'll be Monica, and Ginny, you're Molly. Okay?"

They nodded and picked up their bags. Hermione hesitated.

"I had aimed for nearer, but as I've never apparated to here before, I don't think I got it quite right. I think we've got quite a long walk, so we'd better start now." she said, and before long they were marching down quiet streets. It felt good to stretch their legs, and be doing something useful, even though they were all scared. It took them an hour to get to the edge of Exmoor National park, but not even Ron was complaining. It seemed they had all realised the seriousness of their situation. Hermione took a deep breath and consulted her map.

"We should go in pairs to search, and meet back here in three hours. If you find anything, alert us by sending sparks up with your wand, and we'll follow them. We'll do the same. Harry, you take this and go with Ginny. I'll have this map and go with you, Ron." Hermione put each hand on Harry and Ginny's shoulders. "Be careful." She handed Harry a map. They all nodded and split off. Harry found that it was quite pleasurable, walking with Ginny, the beautiful scenery all around them. After an hour they stopped, and sat down on the grass. Harry got out two bottles of water and a pack of biscuits.

"I don't know about you, but I'm hungry." Harry said. Ginny grinned, and leaned against Harry. He stroked her hair, looking forward to it being ginger again. She lifted her head to look at Harry, and he was surprised to see tears in her eyes. Harry cupped his hands around her face and tilted it upwards.

"What's wrong, Gin? What is it?" he asked, worried. She smiled sadly and wiped at her eyes with the back of her hand.

"Nothing. It's stupid." she turned her head away.

"You can't fool me, Ginny Weasley. Sorry, Molly." He corrected himself even though there was no one around. "What's wrong?"

"I...I was just wondering what's going to happen. I can't bear the idea of anything happening to you-" she broke off and bit her lip. "I already lost you once." she whispered, a tear escaping. Harry felt like crying himself.

"G...Molly, I feel exactly the same way. If anything happened to you it would kill me. But we'll be fine. I didn't even want you to be part of it; I wanted you to stay safely somewhere else. You'd never have agreed to that, though. And I wouldn't have been able to leave you behind, I'm that selfish." Ginny smiled. "We'll be ok, Molly. We'll stick together. We'll be fine." Ginny nodded, and straightened up. She reached for the biscuit packet, and then froze. Harry looked at her, alarmed, and followed her gaze. For a second, he wasn't sure why Ginny had stilled, it was just a man walking his dog in the park. Then he realised. It wasn't any old man. It was the man that Harry was disguised as. It was the man that Hermione had taken a hair from in France. He was here, and any moment now, he would see himself sitting down eating biscuits. Harry froze too. Ginny broke out of her trance, chucked their things into Harry's bag, swung it over her shoulder and hit Harry on the arm.

"Come on, James. Come on!" she said quietly, so as not to be heard by the man. Harry snapped out of it and scrambled up. Ginny dragged him by the hand towards a copse of trees. They ran when they were out of sight, through the trees, and out the other side to a completely different part of park. They took a jumbled route, impossible to follow, down twisting paths, through a wood, round a big hill and into a forest, where they finally slowed down. They walked, catching their breath, still holding hands.

"It's such bad luck, isn't it? Out of all the people there were in France, I'm him, and he had to come here on the same day, at the same time, in the same bit of park. What kind of rotten luck is that?" Harry joked. Then he heard voices. He pointed at a tree and Ginny hid behind it obediently. Harry crept forwards. He backed into a tree a few metres from Ginny's, and looked around the other side cautiously. There were more trees, but in the distance Harry could see smoke. He beckoned to Ginny and she ran up to him, and they moved towards the smoke. When they got closer, they peeked between two trees, and studied the scene in front of them with interest. The smoke was coming from a fire, in the middle of a tiny clearing with trees all around it. Standing over the fire, her back to Harry and Ginny, was a tall thin lady with straggly blonde hair. She was poking at something in the fire, and then another lady appeared out of a large hut that Harry hadn't seen, lurking in the trees. The lady from the hut approached the fire, and Harry saw that this lady was also thin, but with dirty red hair, and pale cheeks. From behind her came a cold voice:

"Mary, don't leave just yet. You still haven't told me all about your idiotic husband." Harry's heart thudded uncontrollably. He pushed Ginny further behind him.

"He's not an idiot." The red haired lady, Mary, said. She seemed too ill to speak, but managed a hoarse voice.

"Oh shut up." came the cool voice, sounding almost bored. " _Crucio_!" Mary fell to the floor with a throaty scream, writhing on the ground in pain. The other lady, whom Harry thought must have been Arabella, looked up from the fire and hobbled over to Mary. She seemed to have a limp. Arabella knelt on the ground next to Mary and screamed too.

"Stop it! S-stop!" she sobbed.

"Oh, not you, too, Arabella." the voice said patronisingly. "Won't you _ever_ learn? Pity. _Crucio_."

Harry winced as Arabella fell to the floor alongside Mary, screaming. He turned to look at Ginny. Her face was chalk white. Harry rubbed her shoulders, and she gulped, staring ahead. Harry turned back to the scene, and almost yelled, though it was what he had expected.

The person belonging to the cold voice had stepped out from the shadows, his wand trained at the ground where the two women were writhing. The look on his face was a mix of pleasure and boredom, as if he didn't care about what happened to the ladies, but was enjoying what he was doing. He shook his head, jeering. It was Macnair.

Harry noticed movement behind him and glanced at Ginny in time to see her draw her wand. Harry looked at her, alarmed.

"Gi-Molly, no!" he whispered, unheard over the ladies' screams. Ginny shook her head impatiently and ran back the way they had come. Harry couldn't do anything but follow her. She was back at the mouth of the forest when she stopped, held her wand high, and shot red sparks into the air. She then brought her wand down, and pointed it towards where Macnair was. There appeared on the ground red arrows, pointing the way towards Macnair, and Harry understood. She was leaving a trail for Ron and Hermione. Ginny and Harry started walking back to the clearing. Within minutes, Ron and Hermione ran up behind them, panting.

"Good idea with the arrows, Molly." Ron said, after he had caught his breath.

"Yeah, but what if someone else follows them?" Hermione said anxiously.

"Oh, no, it's fine, they'll be gone soon. They evaporate within 10 minutes."

Hermione nodded. "Ok. So what did you see?"

Harry explained. When he got to the torturing part Ginny blanched. Harry grasped her hand again. Hermione had gone white too.

"Ok." she said again. "Come on, then. We all know the plan?" Everyone nodded. They were almost there now. "Right. Well, here goes." No one moved for a second. "Distraction, Arthur!" Ron nodded nervously. Hermione and Ginny hid behind one tree, and Harry hid behind another a little to the left. Ron nodded again, took a deep breath, and lunged forward drunkenly. He staggered towards the fire, and suddenly the screaming stopped as Macnair looked up sharply, his wand pointing at Ron now instead.

"Who are you?" he said suspiciously, jabbing his wand in Ron's direction, and looking sideways at the ladies, who were lying panting on the floor. Ron grinned madly and laughed.

"The real question is, matey, who are _you_?" he clicked and pointed at Macnair, his mouth gaped in a goofy grin, and slapped his chest with his hand. "You _seeee_ , I'm looking for an opponent!"

"A-what?" Macnair was staring at Ron as though he couldn't believe his eyes. It was working, though; he was no longer concentrating on Arabella and Mary, who were scrambling from the floor and stumbling over slowly to where Hermione and Ginny were hid.

"An o-pon-en-t." Ron said, emphasising each letter rudely. Macnair narrowed his eyes.

"You see, matey, I was down at the pub-" Ron hiccuped and burped loudly, "-and I had a few Firewhiskeys, you know-" Ron slapped his thigh as though amused and burped again, "-and I had a game of wizard chess with _every single person at the bar_ and I beat _every single one_!" Ron shook a box of chess pieces, that he had taken out of his pocket, in Macnair's face. Macnair was looking annoyed now. Ron glanced at him hurriedly and then carried on his facade- "and you _seee_ , matey, that I was just thinking I could play _you_ -" Ron jabbed at Macnair's chest playfully. Mcanair raised his eyebrows. "-coz _you_ look like a worthy o-pon-en-t! And I ain't never been beat before, ya _seeee_?" Macnair started to shake his head angrily, and raised his wand. Ron stared at it in alarm.

"Push off, you-"

"Ahhhh! Ohhhhh dearrrrr! I _seeeeeeeeeee_!" Ron slurred, stumbling over his own feet and almost falling over.

"What? What do you _seeee_?" Macnair asked, looking vaguely annoyed but slightly amused now.

" _You're too scared of getting beat by the champion_! HAHAHAH! You're a _coward_! _Coward, coward, cow-_ "

"Oh, fine! I'll play your stupid chess!" Macnair exclaimed, and Ron giggled. Macnair glanced back at the ladies, who seemed to be stood talking to each other by the trees, and walked off to the hut with Ron, who was zigzagging all over the place, laughing loudly. They entered the hut, leaving the door shut to behind them. Harry walked over to Ginny and Hermione, and saw that, in fact, Arabella and Mary were talking to them, not each other.

"-oh, but you really are too kind, dearies. Oh, for you to come and rescue us!" Arabella was gushing, holding Ginny's hand in both of hers.

"Yes, yes, but you must get going! You're in terrible danger here. Listen carefully to me, both of you. You have to do as we say. Run out of here, to the nearest police station. Tell them that you got lost, whatever, but don't tell them about us, ok? And don't tell them about Macnair. They'll get you back to your husbands. Tell only your husbands about us, tell them that we came to get rid of Macnair and that we succeeded, ok, and that they don't need to look for Harry Potter anymore. Don't come looking for us either. Forget about us, don't even talk to us if you ever see us again. Understood?" Hermione whispered it all urgently, and the ladies nodded solemnly.

"We will. We can't thank you enough." Mary said, and they ran out of the forest. Hermione took a deep breath and raked her hands through her hair.

"Ok. Now for the hard bit. Take up your positions, guys. We can do this."

They squeezed each other's hands briefly. Walking forwards, Ginny positioned herself with her side to the hut on the left, just outside. Hermione stopped opposite Ginny, facing her, on the right, and Harry positioned himself facing the hut, inbetween them, a few metres from the front door. They waited with bated breath. Harry could hear Ron gurgling from inside, and Macnair cursing. Suddenly, there came a great crash, and Macnair yelled,

"What the hell do you think you're doing! You idiot!" Ron laughed nervously from inside, and apologised loudly.

"Sorry, matey, didn't mean to knock over the board," Ron chuckled and then coughed and retched. "I think-I don't feel very well..." he burst out of the door, nodding at Harry as he hurtled out, then coming to stand just behind him. They all braced themselves, pointing their wands at the same point. Seconds later, Macnair came running out the door, shouting.

"Come back, you blithering idio-" Before he could finish, Hermione, Ron, Ginny and Harry yelled simultaneously:

" _Obliviate!_ "

" _Incarcerous!_ "

" _Stupefy!_ "

" _Expelliarmus!_ "

Hermione's spell hit him first, and Macnair's eyes became blank as his memory was wiped. Then Ron's spell created binding ropes that wrapped themselves around Macnair. He stumbled, and Ginny's spell caused him to fall anyway as he was stunned. Then his wand flew out of his hand as he lay on the floor, his eyes dark. Harry caught Macnair's wand with one hand. They looked at each other, and at the bound, stunned, wandless, memoryless Macnair on the floor.

"Good job." Hermione whispered. "And good idea Harry, to use _Expelliarmus_. He won't be able to do magic once he wakes up."

"If he remembers any spells in the first place." Ron snorted, his eyes still on Macnair. His face changed from a smirk to a grimace. "Tell me why we didn't just finish him off?" he said darkly.

"Because the killing curse is unforgivable, not to mention illegal. And anyway, could you live with it? Having killed someone?" Hermione murmured. Ron looked thoughtful, and didn't answer. Finally, they tore their eyes away from the immobile Macnair, Hermione grabbed Harry, who reached for Ginny's hand, and Ron, and they apparated back to France.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter eight

They landed in exactly the same place as they had been before. Within minutes, the tent was back up, Ron was cooking bacon, and everyone had relaxed, even Hermione, who wouldn't stop telling Ron how brave he had been (he looked like he was enjoying it way too much, and almost burnt the bacon when he stopped to kiss Hermione for the fourth time). The polyjuice potion had worn off by now, and Ginny sat down in front of Harry and rested her back against his stomach. Harry fingered her hair, loving the redness of it again. After eating, the four of them hiked around the mountains, and sat and watched the sun go down. It felt so peaceful. All of a sudden they felt like adults, and not just because they were away alone, but because of what had just happened. Even though Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione had all taken out death eaters before, this felt different, somehow.

* * *

Mrs Weasley was beyond worried, as well as sick with grief for Fred. George hadn't eaten properly in weeks, nor come out of his bedroom, and he hadn't been in contact with anyone since the battle. Finally, she couldn't keep it in any more, and one day in June, when she went into his bedroom at twelve to bring his lunch-that he never ate-she sat down beside him on his bed. She hadn't talked to George properly since the day he had shouted at her. Mrs Weasley wasn't angry at him, in any way at all, but knew that he needed his space. Now, though, she knew that if she didn't talk to him soon, she would explode.

"George?" she said tentatively. He didn't answer. She ploughed on anyway. "I think it would be good if you saw a friend." she said quickly. She looked at his face to see his reaction. To her surprise, his eyes had shone at the word 'friend', and he turned to look at his mum.

"I...yes, I think so too." he whispered in a hoarse voice. Mrs Weasley was so taken aback that she had to blink back tears.

"Oh, good, I-I'm glad you agree, Georgie..." He winced at her old nickname. "I was thinking maybe Ange-"

"Only if I can choose." George cut in. "I want to see Lee. Lee Jordan."

Mrs Weasley swallowed. She had been about to suggest Angelina, thinking it would be best if it were someone further away from his old life with Fred, (but still someone who had been involved), not someone who had been Fred's best friend as much as George's. Besides, she didn't approve of that boy. But she couldn't bring herself to say no. Not to her son, who had been dealing with the death of his twin brother and would never fully recover from the blow. Maybe it would be good for him to see Lee, as they could comfort each other. There was something very much like hope in George's eyes now, and Mrs Weasley couldn't have said no to him if she'd tried.

* * *

"So I thought that today we could go and see the 'Gorges du Verdon', it's the South of France's version of the grand canyon, apparently. Completely natural, probably centuries old, with clear blue water and beautiful rocks, its meant to be simply gorgeous." Hermione's eyes were sparkling.

"That sounds great." Ron said enthusiastically, wrapping his arm around her waist and looking at Harry and Ginny expectantly. To be honest, Harry was missing the old Ron right at this minute. The one that had scorned at all of Hermione's ideas. Ron had mostly been wrong, but on this occasion, Harry really didn't want to go to see an old rock pool. He wanted to stay at the tent with Ginny, alone. Hermione noticed Harry's face.

"Oh, come _on_ , Harry, we can't just sit in the tent all day-"

"Hermione, yesterday we defeated a death eater _and_ went on a hike around the mountains! We haven't been exactly lazy!" Harry remarked indignantly.

"I know, but I really want to go, Harry, please. Its...its somewhere that I was going to go with my parents, but we never went. And...well, obviously I can't go with them now, as they wouldn't remember..." Hermione tailed off, looking wistful. It worked.

"Ok, ok, fine." Harry huffed. He couldn't say no after that, and Hermione knew it. Hermione perked up instantly.

"Great! I'll pack some lunch. We can go for a whole day. We'll leave in twenty minutes, all right?" Hermione drained her juice, jumped up from the table and disappeared into the bedroom. They could hear her humming tunelessly. Ron leant over the table to Harry, and whispered,

"Look, mate, I didn't really want to go either, but I've got to agree with her, she's my girlfriend, right? It might be good to keep doing things, get out in the sun, otherwise..." Ron broke off and looked at Ginny worriedly.

"We might get ill or something."

Ginny hadn't spoken all morning. She was wrapped up in her jumper, the sleeves pulled right over her hands and her arms crossed, as pale as snow. Harry knew Ron was right; Ginny wasn't used to living like this, and if they got out and about it would be better for her.

"Yeah, a bit of sun would be good, eh, Ginny?" Harry said in a falsely cheery voice. Ginny nodded and leant against Harry weakly.

"Right, are you almost...Ginny! You haven't eaten anything, and we're going in ten minutes! You all need to change into your swimming things, too, and put your clothes over the top."

Harry rolled his eyes at Hermione, but secretly he loved her for being so bossy. It meant that he didn't have to be the one in charge. Ginny took a bite from her bread, pushed her plate away and went into the bathroom to change, taking her bikini from Hermione. Ron, Harry and Hermione exchanged concerned looks when Ginny had closed the door firmly behind her.

"She's not her usual self at all." Hermione whispered.

"I know." Harry replied. "I hope she's back to normal soon, I hate seeing her so upset." He fell silent as Ginny opened the door. Harry and Ron changed quickly, and then they all stood, hands held, and apparated.

"Harry, that's my toe!"

"Sorry, Hermione, it's not my fault that we ended up in a _pitch black forest!_ " Harry hissed back.

"Well, this place is packed with muggles, Harry, so I thought it would be best if we apparated nearby so no one would see us. Imagine if you were a muggle and-"

"-you saw four people randomly appear out of nowhere, what would you think? Yes, Hermione, you've mentioned that before."

Hermione sighed at him. "Anyway, once we walk out of this little bit we should come to the 'Gorges du Verdon'."

All of a sudden, they came out of the forest to the light. They all blinked in the sudden sun, and then gasped. In front of them was a little valley, huge grey rocks rising up on each side. There was a wide expanse of blue water nestled in the middle of the rocks. They could see it weaving off in the distance like a river, but the big space that they could see was where there were people bathing. There weren't many people there. Harry looked up and saw that the sky was covered with grey clouds, but it was still quite warm, so they ran down to the water's edge and stripped down to their swimming things. Ginny was beginning to smile, drinking in the beautiful views all around her. Harry grabbed her hand and they walked into the water together, towards where Ron and Hermione, were already up to their waists in water. It was warm and so clear that Harry could see his toes. He splashed Ginny; she giggled and splashed him back, and they jumped through the water giddily. Then Harry felt more water on the top of his head. He looked up. Large rain drops were falling from the sky, splashing into the perfect water and creating little ripples on the surface. Hermione squealed, holding her hands up in front of her to feel the rain. Her and Ron waded out of the water and huddled under a tree in the dry. Harry glanced at Ginny. She didn't move towards the bank., and neither did he. There was something advernturous and daring in her eyes, and Harry liked it. He pulled her closer and looked at her face. Her eyes were shining. He leant in closer and they kissed, and Harry felt finally happy again as the cool rain dropped onto his back and head, and Ginny's lips moved with his.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter nine

Mrs Weasley took a deep breath and opened the door.

"Good morning, Mrs Weasley." Lee said politely.

"Hello, Lee. It's lovely to see you." Mrs Weasley was rather taken aback at Lee's smart appearance; he was wearing tight black jeans and a white shirt, and looked rather presentable, very much unlike the Lee Jordan she had once seen with a tarantula at the train station.

"Um, come in, dear. Would you like a drink? Something to eat?" Mrs Weasley was terribly flustered. Having not had a visitor to her home in a couple of months, and with the fact that she was grieving for Fred, she had not been her usual self at cleaning and tidying at all. She kept seeing patches of dust and cobwebs out of the corner of her eye. Waving her wand, she produced a chair out of thin air that nudged at Lee's knees until he fell onto it relunctantly. She flourished her wand again and a mug of coffee appeared, then a cup of tea, a glass of pumpkin juice, all dancing in mind air in front of Lee, who was looking a bit sick as he watched the cups spin wildly. Then Mrs Weasley produced a plate of ginger biscuits, a box of fudge, a chocolate cake...

"Mrs Weasley-"

A tin of toffees, a lemon meringue pie...

"Mrs Weasley, please STOP!"

Mrs Weasley's eyes widened and she lowered her wand, which was halfway through creating a trifle (the bowl crashed to the floor and smashed), to look at Lee. He was cowering in his chair, looking somewhat scared.

"I...I wouldn't like anything, thank you." he said. "I just want to go and see George." Lee's eyes glistened, and he wiped them furiously with his hand.

"Oh, dearie, I'm sorry." Mrs Weasley didn't know what had come over her. She waved her wand a final time, and the food and drink disappeared. "George is up in his bedroom. You've been before, haven't you?" Lee nodded, got up tentatively and hurried from the room.

* * *

Ginny, Harry, Hermione and Ron spent two weeks in France; they visited famous destinations and went on tours around the cities. But they were all happier when they were at the tent, talking over the campfire. It wasn't that they didn't enjoy acting as carefree tourists-it was an exciting avdenture-but in the end, all they really wanted was to spend time with each other. Those talks that went on until late at night, when the fire was all but burned out, reminded each one of them that the most important thing was being together.

"and when you started trying to talk French to the cashier-" Hermione paused to catch her breath; she was laughing so hard that she was bent double- "and you told him to go and eat slugs instead of asking where the toilet was..."

Harry joined in with the laughter. "And his face, Ron, he looked like he wanted to kill you!"

"It was an easy mistake to make!" Ron said indignantly, though a smile was playing on his lips. "And anyway, what about that time yesterday when Ginny tried to work out the money-"  
"That wasn't my fault, I mean, its hard enough going from Wizard money to Muggle money, never mind Wizard money to French Muggle money!"

"Yes, but when you gave the woman 100 euros instead of 5, and she looked like Christmas had come early-"

"Thats fair enough, Ron, I mean, it is difficult. But eat slugs...and remember that time in second year that you really _did_ eat slugs-" Hermione was off again, laughing so hard that she moaned that her stomach hurt. Ron scowled, but couldn't keep a staright face for long, and burst out laughing after a moment. Within seconds Harry and Ginny joined in, and laughed solidly for minutes. Harry was the first to stop, and that was only because he couldn't breathe.

"Seriously, though, guys, it's sad that we had to leave. I like France." They stayed in silence for a moment, watching the wavering flames of the fire, the only sounds the whispering of the breeze through the trees, a distant hoot of an owl and the crackling of the fire, and wrapping their extra blankets around them.

"We're going somewhere nice though," Hermione said, her voice breaking through the quiet. "And we can't stay here forever. I know that we're not running away from anything anymore, so we don't have to follow the map-we could do what we wanted-but I don't think we should stay here any longer, just in case. There are still bad people in this world, even though Voldemort's gone, and so we still have to be careful. I know what you're going to say-" Hermione hastened to add, looking quickly around at them all, "'You need to relax, we're on holiday'. But we can relax whilst being cautious, can't we?" They all nodded in response. Before long, Ginny had fallen asleep on Harry's shoulder, and he carried her bridal style into the tent and tucked her in bed, then collapsed onto his own bed and fell asleep at once.

They followed the map on to Spain, and spent a week in a hotel, swimming in the pool all day and eating fancy meals at the restaurant.

 _Harry sighed with happiness and stretched out on his sun lounger. He was wearing only swimming shorts and sunglasses, and already had a nice tan, from sunbathing all day. Hermione and Ginny were swimming in the pool, and Ron and Harry were lying on two of the sun beds that surrounded it. Harry opened his eyes and sat up as Hermione and Ginny got out of the pool and came over to them. Ginny's wet hair stuck up wildly in all directions. Harry loved it. She sat down next to him on the lounger, and was about to lean in to kiss him when Ron jumped up._

 _"Hey, Harry, quite kissing my sister and race me?" Harry grinned and pulled away. He walked to the pool, slid into the water and began chasing Ron, swimming as fast as he could. He soon caught u with himp, and then Ron caught Harry, and they began in this frenzied way as they did every day, while the girls giggled at them from the poolside._

After that, Harry's complicated map route took them to a small island off Brazil.

 _"This is beautiful." Ginny breathed, slipping her sandals off and wandering down the beach, occasionally dipping her toes into the clear blue water. Harry walked after her, loving the feel of the sand between his toes, though any beach reminded him painfully of Dobby. The island was small and vaguely circular, a stretch of beach all around, a copse of trees in the North and a little beach apartment in the middle of the island, that they were treating themselves to staying in. (So far they had only slept in their tent instead of buying accomodation, but when they had apparated to the coast of Brazil and been told about the island, they had all wanted to stay at the apartment). Ron and Hermione were frolicking in the water, and Harry couldn't deny that it was inviting, but for now, all he wanted was Ginny. He caught up to her, and she stopped to face him. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders, and leant in to kiss her, feeling totally content._

Then they went to Canada, just in time for their version of Independence Day, on July 1st.

 _Hermione and Ginny picked the perfect spot, under the shade of a big oak tree. They could see other couples and families setting up picnic blankets and getting out food. It was around seven in the evening, in a massive park in the middle of Vancouver, and they had all come to celebrate Independence Day. These events happened all over Canada: big communal picnics with fireworks and parades and other celebrations. They set out their blanket-a massive Canadian flag that Hermione had insisted on buying-and set down their picnic hamper. Soon, there was music playing from somewhere in the middle of the scattered group of people, and everyone was eating. Ron threw grapes into the air, trying to catch them in his mouth and failing miserably, while Hermione sniggered at him. Soon, it got dark, everyone lay on their backs on their blankets, and the fireworks began, lighting up the black sky with brightly coloured sparks, and filling the air with pops and bangs._

New York was next. They ended up spending two weeks there, as it was like another world and they wanted to experience every bit of it.

 _"You want to go_ _again? Don't you ever get bored of shopping?" Ron asked exasperatedly, shaking his head. Hermione whacked him with the towel she was drying her hair with. "And how do you still have money left?"_

 _"Well, I took all of my money from my savings account before the battle, and I took some of it with me-"_

 _"Some of it?" Ron asked hoarsely. "Hermione, you must have spent two hundred galleons!"_

 _"They left me a lot, Ron. I was their only child, remember."_

 _Ron nodded, looking slightly sullen_ _._

 _"Anyways, why don't we go to Madison square garden, Ron, there's a game on?" Harry said, trying to brighten him up._

 _Ron instantly broke out of his sulk and_ _agreed, and the two groups split off in the morning and joined for lunch, after their separate activities. They walked around the city for the afternoon, stopping for dinner, and then they visited the Rockefeller center observation deck, where they could see the whole of the city spread before them like a chessboard, the buildings as the wizard chess pieces. They all leant against each other, for a moment breath taken at the view._

 _"Doesn't it feel strange to be doing muggle things, with muggle money, like you guys seeing the game, and us going shopping in muggle stores?" Hermione asked wonderingly, breaking the silence._

 _"Its kind of nice for no one to know who we are." Harry replied. He stared out at the city. The sun began to set, and they watched it sink lower and lower, and the sky turn from pale blue to orange to pink to purple to deep navy._

* * *

Mrs Weasley had told George that Lee was coming, and so George had made an effort that morning-showered, brushed his hair and got dressed for the first time in weeks. He sat on his bed, his knee jiggling nervously as he waited. Finally, after what seemed like hours, George heard the front door open, and then, with a jolt of painful recognition, Lee's voice. He waited tensely. A sudden crash from downstairs made him jump violently, and he started to bite his nails. He heard footsteps, and looked up hopefully, and suer enough, moments later the door creaked open and Lee stepped tentatively into the room. He and George looked at each other, and then George leapt off his bed and Lee lunged forwards and they came together in a crushing hug.

"I've missed you." Lee whispered. George couldn't speak; it felt as though a massive lump had lodged itself in his throat. Anyway, he was, all at once, the happiest he had been in ages and yet sad too. He couldn't have put that into words if he'd tried.


	10. Chapter 10

Sorry I haven't posted for ages, I've had a lot going on! I hope you enjoy x

* * *

Chapter ten

Harry had deliberately planned to travel back home (the Burrow was his home now) for his birthday. So on July 18th, they said goodbye to New York and apparated back to Devon. It was early evening, and they hadn't eaten yet. It was cold compared to New York, and even then they had chosen the worst time to come back to-it had been raining all day. They were shivering and hungry, but as Harry reached out his hand to knock on the front door, it opened, Mrs Weasley ushered them in and they were hit with a gush of warm air. She hurried them into seats at the table and placed food in front of them, saying all the while,

"Oh, I did so hope you'd come back for your birthday, Harry, dear. Its so lovely to see you all again."

Minutes later, the door opened again, and Mr Weasley appeared, pulling off his coat and smiling at them all. Harry felt himself begin to relax, as he helped himself to chicken and ham pie. Then he heard footsteps on the stairs, and turned around eargerly, waiting for two ginger heads to pop round the door and a joke to be said. George came into the room, and then it hit Harry with a huge force, like it had happened all over again- _Fred wasn't there, and he never would be, never again._ He turned round so fast that he cricked his neck, swallowed hard and hastily gulped down some orange juice. Ginny's hand found his under the table and Harry looked up to meet her eyes; she gave him a worried look, and he smiled at her despite the fact that he was holding back tears. Mrs Weasley looked up from where she was pouring Hermione a pumpkin juice and almost dropped the jug.

"George? C-come and sit down, and have some dinner." She looked pleasantly shocked as she ushered him into a chair. Harry got the impression that George hadn't come down for dinner for a while. Lee Jordan followed behind George, looking slightly lost. Ron stood up when Lee entered the room, greeting him with a hearty,

"Lee! Haven't seen you in yonks, mate!" and giving him a half hug.

"Lee, dear, you're very welcome to stay for dinner." Mrs Weasley said, and Lee nodded and sat down next to George. The table was very overcrowded, and so, with a flick of her wand, Mrs Weasley expanded it and everyone could breathe again. Mr Weasley leant forwards eagerly, and said,

"So, you four adventurers. What have you been up to all this time?" The rest of the meal consisted of Ginny, Harry, Ron and Hermione talking excitably about their trip, and their plans for August. Harry was just glad for a distraction.

During the next few days, Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny stayed at home, helping around the house and relaxing after all that had happened. They did everything together again, so even when Harry, Ron and Ginny wanted to fly on their brooms one afternoon, Hermione straddled Ron's and they flew together; when Hermione wanted to read, Ginny did too and Ron and Harry played wizard chess. Every night, after all the lights had gone out, Harry would sneak out of Ron's bedroom and into Ginny and Hermione's, and he would meet Hermione in the hallway as she was on her way to Ron's. They would exchange an awkward glance, sometimes a giggle. Harry would climb into Ginny's bed and sleep next to her, holding her close. Every night she would wrap her arms around Harry and cry herself to sleep, and Harry would smooth down her hair and rub her back until she slept. Except for the fact that the ball of grief in Harry's stomach (that had never left but had loosened slightly during their trip) had grown suddenly stronger again, and that Ginny wept every night, it was all together a pleasant time.

On the morning of Harry's birthday, he awoke in Ginny's bedroom. Ready to sneak out just as he did every morning, so that Mr or Mrs Weasley wouldn't find him there and jump to the wrong conclusions, he untangled himself from Ginny's arms and slipped out from under the duvet. Just as he swung his legs out of the bed, he heard Ginny murmur "good morning" and he squeezed her hand in response. Ginny sat up behind Harry, and wrapped her arms around him, resting her head on his back. "Shut your eyes" she whispered, and Harry did so, his heart hammering, wondering what she was going to do. He head Ginny mutter an incoherent spell, and then she tapped him on the arm. He opened his eyes to golden light spilling from all directions. (By the looks of it she had very successfully produced a _Luxio_ charm.) Two huge balloons in the shape of a one and an eight (which seemed to be covered in writing) bobbed cheerfully in mid air. Harry got off the bed and went for a closer look-they had been signed by people, with messages. He read:

"To Harry, Happy 18th birthday! Have a great day and we'll see you soon, love from Neville and Luna x"

"Harry, dear, have a lovely birthday. You'll always be like a son to me. Love, Mrs Weasley"

"Have a happy happy birthday you wonderful boy. Mr Weasley"

"Happy birthday mate! See you soon, Seamus"

"You're finally 18! Bloody hell. Have a great one, Harry. Ron, your best mate :)"

"Happy birthday, Harry. I can't believe you're 18! Seems like only yesterday that I came into you and Ron's compartment on the train. You're my best friend and I love you to bits, Hermione xx"

"Harry. Happy birthday. Thankyou for everything. George"

"Happy birthday Harry, from Lee"

"Happy birthday, Potter. To me, you will not only always be the youngest seeker in a century, but the boy who saved us all. Thankyou, Harry. "

"Harry, yur the best student I ever ad. Thanyou. Happy birthday. Hagrid."

"Dear Harry, Happy birthday! I love you so much, and thankyou for everything. Love from Ginny xxx"

Harry blinked back tears as he turned away from the balloons. Ginny looked at him anxiously.

"Do you like them?"

"I love them." Harry answered, his voice rough. "How on earth did you get them all?"

"It was my idea, but Mum went round and got all the messages and signatures. We couldn't ask everyone, but-"

"Ginny, they're wonderful. I love them." Harry stepped forwards and lifted Ginny up from the bed, placing her down and kissing the top of her head. She reached up and wrapped her ams round his shoulders, pulling him into a long hug. When they finally broke apart, she clapped her hands together excitedly and pointed to the corner.

"You haven't seen the presents yet!" Harry turned to see a pile of gifts next to the balloons. His heart twinged at the effort Ginny and her family and his best friends had gone through for him. He didn't really want the fuss, but he smiled brightly at Ginny and began to rip open the first present.


	11. Chapter 11

Sorry for the late update, had a very busy end of 2016 and some trouble logging in but hopefully back to normal now! x

* * *

Chapter eleven

"Thank you for the sweets and the blanket, and the-um-socks." Harry said to Mrs Weasley, as he pulled out a chair at the breakfast table. "They're really rather...ur...comfortable." Ginny bit her lip to hold back the giggles, and Harry tried not to look at her, knowing that if he did, he would laugh. He had opened Mr and Mrs Weasley's present last, and a pair of revolting green socks had fallen out, along with a hand made patchwork blanket in Gryffindor colours, and his usual tin of toffee and fudge. Ginny had taken one look at him and burst out laughing. They had rolled on the floor, clutching their sides, for what seemed like hours. Hermione ran up behind Harry and hugged him just before he sat down, nearly knocking him over.

"Happy birthday, Harry! Did you like your present?"

"I loved it, Hermione, thank you." She pulled away from him, beaming, and sat down opposite him. Hermione had given him a photo album filled with photos of her, Harry, Ron and Ginny. It had made him smile and he knew that he would treasure it. Ron followed behind Hermione, chuckling at her.

"One day, Hermione, you're going to give him a heart attack." he clapped Harry on the shoulder. "Happy birthday, Harry, finally." Harry grinned at Ron.

"Thanks for the fireworks, Ron. And the Honeydukes ch-"

"You. Got. Him. _Fireworks!_ " Hermione exclaimed, shocked.

"Um, yeah, I thought that they'd be fun." Ron muttered.

"Just don't kill each other with them, okay? After all this, you don't want death by Firework!"

"You know, sometimes, Hermione, you sound just like my mother." Ron uttered, but she didn't hear him. Harry smiled again. They would never change. George was down next, closely followed by Lee, to Harry's surprise. Judging by the fact that Mrs Weasley dropped the dish she was carrying, Mr Weasley started choking on his toast, Ginny froze with her spoon halfway to her mouth and Ron and Hermione glanced at each other, everybody else was pretty surprised too.

"Lee, dear, I didn't know you were staying! Oh, never mind, just come and have some breakfast before you go, at least." Mrs Weasley said kindly, though Lee hadn't said anything about leaving. He nodded and sat down next to George.

* * *

"Right. Well, see you then." George said, passing Lee his jacket and then hugging his arms to his chest.

"Yeah. I wish-oh, just...try to talk to your parents soon, George. We can't keep this quiet for much longer." Lee took George's hand and briefly squeezed it, then went downstairs and out the door, looking back up at the window and waving wistfully back up at George.

* * *

The morning went by in a blur for Harry. After breakfast, him, Ron, Ginny and Hermione played a furious game of Quidditch, in which Ron and Hermione played on the same team (Hermione as chaser, Ron as keeper) and Ginny and Harry played on the same team (Harry as keeper, Ginny as chaser) as Harry had received a full Quidditch ball set from Dean, Seamus, Neville and Luna. They decided to stop at noon to get lunch.

"Hermione, you were brilliant!" Ron gushed, squeezing her hand as they walked to the shed to put their brooms away. Hermione blushed.

"I'm getting better, but we still lost!"

"Only by 20 points," Ginny chipped in, "And last time, the team you were on lost by 70, so you're definitely improving." Hermione elbowed her while Harry began to place the balls back in the box, chuckling at them. They all went inside and Mrs Weasley cooked them a wonderful lunch, all of Harry's favourites, finishing with two helpings of treacle tart for everyone. After lunch, Harry, Hermione, Ginny and Ron stepped into the fireplace one by one, clutching a pile of Floo powder and travelling first to Neville's house. Harry arrived first, coughing and sneezing, and stepped out of the fireplace.

"Harry!"

"Lu-" Before he could finish, Luna had thrown her arms around him and squeezed him tightly. They hugged briefly, then she stepped back and beamed at everyone (they had all arrived by now), her arm slung around Neville, who Harry could swear had a tear in his eye.

"Well, come and sit down, it's lovely to see you all," Neville grinned, and they all squished into armchairs, and proceeded to talk for a couple of hours about everything that had happened, and what they were expecting for the next year. Luna explained how her and Neville had been together for a month now, while Neville blushed furiously. Hermione and Ginny gushed about the beautiful places they had been to, and Neville talked to Harry and Ron about what they thought the next year would bring, (especially for Quidditch). Neville's grandmother shuffled in as they were about to leave. She looked mildly surprised at four young adults (that she hadn't noticed coming in) about to leave, but hugged them all goodbye, and Harry was surprised that she remembered all of their names (though she called Ginny 'Ginerva' and the scowl on his girlfriend's face as she turned away was side-splitting). They went to Seamus' house next, and were surprised to hear from him that Dean was there too.

"He's pretty rough. After the battle, he went home-to find that his house was gone. Literally just dust. His Mum and half brothers and sisters all dead. His grandparents, too. I think it was revenge from Voldemort, because his Dad refused to join the death-eaters when Dean was little, and he killed him. They obviously hadn't had enough, though-" Seamus' voice shook and he clenched his fists, then he took a deep breath and carried on. "There was one person that they left. Dean went to his aunt and uncle's houses, only to find them destroyed too. The final house he went to was still standing, but the inside was wrecked. He searched all over, and found his cousin Hannah asleep in the rubble. She's not even one yet. My mam offered to adopt her, but Dean insisted that he could look after her. She sleeps in his room. We can't understand why they would leave a helpless baby, and kill the others?" Seamus looked lost, and Hermione hugged him.

"I guess Dean probably doesn't want to see us right now, but tell him we're here for him, yeah?" Ginny said, and Seamus nodded. As they settled themselves down on armchairs, however, Dean appeared in the doorway, holding a squirming baby that looked shockingly alike to Dean, apart from her curly hair was in little puffy pigtails.

"Ginny? Harry, Ron, Hermione? You don't know how good it is to see you all." Dean said hoarsely. He came over to hug them all, but stopped, looking at Hannah.

"She'll cry if I put her down-"

"I'll take her!" Hermione cried, thrusting her arms out. Dean looked surprised, but handed Hannah over reluctantly, putting her carefully in Hermione's arms so that she was protecting her head. Hermione cooed at Hannah, tears filling her eyes. Ron blinked a couple of times, looking in shock at Hermione. Dean threw his arms around Harry and Ron, then hugged Ginny gently, whispering,

"It's lovely to see you again, Gin." Harry felt a brief surge of jealousy, but it was gone as quick as it had come and then he felt ashamed of himself. He put it aside as they began to talk to Dean and Seamus, filling them in on everything that had happened. Ron was happy to talk about how they'd overcome the death eater, bigging up his part so that Dean and Seamus stared at him in awe, and he puffed his chest out with pride. Hermione rolled her eyes at Harry and Ginny, but when Ron looked at her, she patted her chest and blinked back pretend tears proudly, while jiggling Hannah on her knee. Ginny was sat on Harry's lap, and he noticed Dean glance over at them at least twice. Once they had finished talking, they travelled to another couple of places, then home again. It was quite late when they got in, but Mrs Weasley just shook her head, tutted and sat them down at the table with soup and bread rolls. Afterwards, they all said goodnight to Mr and Mrs Weasley and went upstairs, then played a game of exploding snap as a four, before Hermione and Ron said goodnight too and left. Ginny smiled at Harry-they were in his bedroom, which made a change as they were normally in Ginny's. She crept closer to him, winding her fingers into his hair as they kissed passionately. As Ginny broke free to rip off her dressing gown, revealing her pink silk shorts and black lacy vest, she whispered,

"I've got one more present for you, Harry Potter."

"But-but you've given me enough already-" Harry replied, willing her to hurry up so they could carry on.

"You don't understand. This is something you want...very, very much...that we haven't been able to do yet..." Her breath tickled Harry's ear as she whispered seductively into it. Harry suddenly understood, and his heart beat faster and faster as he stared at Ginny hungrily, while she stepped out of her shorts, flinging them to the side where they hung on her chair. She pushed him down so he was lying flat on his back and straddled his chest, then leant down and kissed him again, fiercer than ever. He kept his lips on hers while slipping her shirt over her head, marvelling at her beauty. She began to undo the buttons on his shirt, and as he pulled it off his shoulders he also wriggled out of his trousers. Ginny stopped for a moment, standing up, undoing her braid with swift fingers and letting her hair fall loosely around her shoulders. Harry stood up too, wrapping his arms around her.

"You're so, so beautiful." He breathed in her ear, kissing along her neck. She shivered, pressing her body against his. After a moment, she took his hand and led him to her bed.


End file.
